A few bones to pick with the Grammys

Analysis

February 14, 2004|By Len Righi Of The Morning Call

Some observations, ruminations and unanswered questions about the 46th annual Grammy Awards (or, as the British press dubbed them, The Grimmys):

Why didn't the show's producers think to include a musical tribute to the late Johnny Cash? After all, there were two separate segments honoring Luther Vandross, who, after all, is still alive. (And whose bright idea was it to replace Celine Dion's faulty microphone with one that worked?)

Speaking of tributes, the performance of The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" by Sting, Dave Matthews, Vince Gill and Pharrell Williams was atrocious, on a par with 'N Sync's tribute to the Bee Gees last year. Gill's singing was at least competent if uninspired. But Matthews was lame and Sting just plain awful. No one should ever call those two rock stars again.

The other Beatles-related segment was nearly as insipid. While George Harrison's widow Olivia was dignified in her remarks, John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, came across as insincere when she said, "John would have been very happy that his efforts were acknowledged in this way by the Grammys. Probably he would have wanted to say, "Come together, give peace a chance and love is all we need."'

Puh-leez!

After hearing Sting et al. cripple "I Saw Her Standing There," and the say-nothing taped statements from Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, Lennon would have had second thoughts about having ever started the band.

Another person whose stature was diminished by his Grammy appearance was Samuel L. Jackson, a dignified actor who has spoken eloquently about the entertainment industry's underuse of and disrespect for African-Americans.

So his semi-coherent rants about the nature of funk -- made before and during an unwieldy performance by Earth, Wind & Fire and George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic -- were sad and dispiriting. What next? Crowd prepping for Howard Dean?

And what about those pairings of artists from different genres? The intention, no doubt, was to show that in music, unlike in life, there are no boundaries. The reality was something else.

Jazz keyboardist Chick Corea playing on "Times Like These" with alt-rock band the Foo Fighters was harmless, but beside the point. What, exactly, did Corea contribute to the song? Nothing more than any number of competent sidemen could have offered.

But having bluegrass star Alison Krauss playing second fiddle to Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan on "Fallen" was even more irritating. Krauss won three Grammys on Sunday, McLachlan none. So why wasn't McLachlan singing backup on one of Krauss' songs? Star power wins out over accomplishment every time, I suppose.

There were some positives:

Christina Aguilera proving she still has at least an ounce of fashion sense by wearing a sedate pinstripe suit, open-collar shirt and loosely knotted tie for her performance of "Beautiful."

The acceptance speech remark by No Doubt's Gwen Stefani, delivered in jest but all too accurate a reflection of the way things are: "I would like to thank" -- snaps her fingers several times -- "oh yeah, all of our fans!"

And this admission from Ozzy Osbourne, who was wearing a neck brace: "I'm happy to be anywhere."